The union
representing staff at Chatham-Kent Children's Services is slamming
the decision to layoff 17 workers, stating the impact will be
hardest on children and families who depend on child protection
services.

"Children's
services is blaming these job losses on an operating deficit that
has grown over the years and that the province demands it must
eliminate now," said Candice Copeland, vice-president of Local 148
of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), in a written
release.

"If
that's the case why should our clients, their families and our
members pay such a steep price for the fact that management has
been incapable of balancing its budgets?" she added.

Copeland
noted that caseloads at CKCS have steadily grown in recent years
thanks, in large measure, to a weak local economy. She added
eliminating these positions "will only increase the pressure on
the already stretched services at this agency, asking workers to
do more with less."

Monica
Bacic, CKCS board chair, said in a written release the agency
needs to achieve savings in order to meet new provincial
requirements for all children's aid societies to balance their
budgets for the current fiscal year.

"To meet
these requirements, the board has approved a combination of
temporary layoffs, downsizing through attrition, and reductions
in contracted workers," she said.She noted
the layoffs impact both part-time and full-time staff for a
total of 15.5 full-time equivalent positions. There is one
layoff in administration and two positions were downsized
through attrition, she said, adding 5.4 full-time equivalent
contract positions will be wrapped up.

The
layoffs impact nearly 9% of the CKCS staff.

"Work
will be re-assigned to other staff members," Bacic said. "Our
priority remains to protect the safety of children in
Chatham-Kent."

Copeland
blames the new funding model root cause of a weakening of
services, because it doesn't take caseloads into account. She
added the same funding model is to blame for the loss of 40 jobs
at the London-Middlesex Children's Aid Society.

Warren
(Smokey) Thomas, with OPSEU, said in a written statement: "This
government must realize that the new funding model will
destabilize the child protection system if it cannot take into
account actual numbers of children and families being served."

He added
the job losses could have been avoided if the government were to
adopt an alternative "transitional funding" formula in place of
the model put forward by the Liberal government that will
directly impact frontline services to children and families.